Rick Dickson thought he had seen the worst last summer after Hurricane Katrina caused $3.5-million in damage to Tulane University’s athletics facilities and forced its teams to relocate to four different colleges.

But nothing prepared Mr. Dickson, Tulane’s athletics director, for December 5, the day he learned that Tulane’s trustees had suspended eight of the university’s sports teams as part of a $60-million universitywide cutback. After hearing the news, Mr. Dickson says, he put his head on his desk and started to cry.